James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan

James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan (16 October 1797-28 March 1868) was a Lieutenant-General in the British Army who was best-known for his command of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War, leading them in the infamous "Charge of the Light Brigade" at the Battle of Balaclava. He was said to have been the most arrogant and extravagant aristocrat of the period.

Biography
James Brudenell grew up in Buckinghamshire in the lap of luxury, as his father inherited the Earldom of Cardigan when young James was only 14. Despite being educated at some of the finest schools in England, he never earned a degree. In 1818 he became Member of Parliament for Marlborough. This was convenient as his cousin owned the borough. When he finally did take his seat, he was an unremarkable parliamentarian and apparently an unpopular one: during a campaign in 1832, despite having spent some 20,000 pounds (1,660,000 pounds in today's money), he was assaulted and beaten badly at a rally. Having failed rather remarkably in politics, he turned his attention to the military. Spurred on by his youthful admiration of Wellington's cavalry at Waterloo, he formed his own troop of horse to guard against reformist uprisings in Northamptonshire. When the Northants menace failed to emerge, he joined the Hussars, where over the course of a few years he bought his way up from a lieutenant's rank to Lieutenant General and command of the 11th Hussars. Along the way he accumulated a court martial for "reprehensible conduct", a dismissal from the army by King William IV of Britain himself, and a prosecution for illegal duelling, all of which he managed to have reversed or dismissed thanks to family connections. When he was finally sent off to India to take command of his forces, he spent a year and a half meandering his way to the colony, only to arrive just in time for a bit of tiger shooting before the 11th Hussars to be recalled to England. Lord Cardigan travelled separately aboard a private yacht, having inherited the earldom in 1837.

Despite a long and illustrious career in politics, Cardigan was most famous for leading the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava. Although initial rumors suggested that he absented himself from the battle altogether, it seemed that he did in fact lead the charge, and from the front, no less - whatever his faults, he certainly possessed that breed of personal courage that came from the certainty that the world would never dare lay a hand on him. After the war, Cardigan returned to England, where he spent his retirement vigorously campaigning against reform and for his own recognition as a hero of the Crimea. In his defense, he did contribute a great deal of money to many veterans' charities, and toward the end of his life he campaigned in favor of the Reform Act of 1867, but since that law served chiefly to bring the House of Commons under the dominance of the upper classes, that was more of an aristocratic machination than a change of heart.

Death
In 1868, Brudenell took part in a conspiracy with Crawford Starrick to assassinate Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, as he opposed the Corrupt Practices Act of 1868 being passed. Jacob Frye foiled his attempts at assassinating Disraeli, and Frye headed to Parliament to assassinate Brudenell. He convinced a politician to walk him to the room where Brudenell was, and Frye gained access to the room by whispering the password, "Balaclava". He silently killed the guard at the door and crept up on Brudenell as he stood over his desk, backed turned to the door, and he slit his throat with his two blades. Brudenell was mortally wounded, and he tried to defend his reputation as he died, with his last words being, "Long live Queen Victoria and the 11th Hussars!"